52 Seconds
by Sue Pokorny
Summary: Knowing how the Winchesters feel about carnivals, what do they think about amusement parks? Just another crappy day in the life of a hunter.


_Sorry, I apologize in advance for this. Mostly crack, but it jumped into my head and wouldn't let go. I do have two much longer (and better, I hope!) fics in the works that I hope to start posting soon, but for now, I'm afraid this is all I have to offer. Please forgive me. _

**Here We Go Loop-dee-loo…**

Amusement parks sucked - if there was anything Dean Winchester was sure of at the moment, that was it.

Amusement parks, carnivals, funhouses… all great big huge pains in his ass. They were crowded, dirty, loud… and, whenever they actually stepped foot in one, haunted.

This one was no exception.

The ghost of the disgruntled worker had been easy to identify, and his remains had been located, dug up, salted and burned… so why was he still here? Reeking havoc inside Adventureland Fun Park?

Because Jeffrey Lewis was too stupid to know he was dead.

That was the only reason Dean could think of at the moment.

He took another step back as the spirit zipped in and out of focus, coalescing even closer to him than before.

"Come on," he griped under his breath, "Don't you have someplace else to go?" His voice rose as he picked his way backwards, inching his way across the coaster tracks to the main platform of the attraction.

As far as hunts went, this one hadn't been one of their most challenging. But the fact that the ghost seemed bound and determined to keep him from crossing back to the main gate and back down to where his brother had hopefully found the damn pendant Jeffrey's girlfriend had insisted was 'a part of him' was seriously starting to piss him off. When she couldn't find it at their apartment, she was positive it had been left at the park, on a hook in the maintenance room where Jeffrey used to work. Of course that was before he was fired for negligence… and before he drank himself to death in the very same maintenance room.

"Jeffrey," he took another step back even as he spread his hands in front of him to placate the ghost. "Look, man. I'm not the enemy here. I'm just trying to help you."

Apparently Jeffrey disagreed as the foundation of the platform shook beneath his feet.

"Okay," he said quietly. "No lying to the ghost. Got it." He took another step back, coming to an abrupt halt as his upper thigh came in contact with the lead car of the roller coaster. Quickly glancing both ways, his eyes tried to determine some kind of escape away from the platform, the ghost and the whole frickin' amusement park.

"Sam!"

He doubted his brother could hear him from down inside the maintenance room of the coaster, but he was quickly running out of options. Now would be a good time for Sam to find that damn pendant and torch the stupid thing, before Jeffrey realized that Dean was simply the diversion and the real threat was looking for the one thing that was currently keeping his spirit tethered to this world.

The spirit took another step forward, stopping suddenly as it screamed in rage, apparently aware that it's anchor was about to be severed. Dean ducked back just as the cars on the platform lurched forward, slamming into his legs and knocking him straight back into the lead car, his head colliding with the safety bar. As his limp body fell into the car, the bar fell down and locked into position and the small procession of motorized cars began their lurching journey toward the first incline.

Snsnsnsnsnsnsnsn

Dean was going to kill him.

After searching through the entire maintenance room twice, Sam finally noticed a hint of reflected light right behind the open doorway. He moved quickly to it, pulling the silver pendant from the hook that had been almost hidden in the shadow of the metal door.

"Is that it?"

Sam nodded toward their client – if you could call a friend of a friend Dad had once killed a poltergeist for a client. "Pretty sure. Melissa said it was a silver medallion with an inscription." He turned the small pendant over and held it up in the dim light. There was enough illumination from the outside to make out the fine line of words etched into the medal.

Before he could confirm their find, the building began to shake, the machinery momentarily coming to life before silence overtook them once again.

"What was that?"

Sam lowered the medallion, slowly turning in the dark of the room, his eyes playing across the shadows of the unfamiliar machinery that ran the parks major attraction.

"I'm guessing that was Jeffrey meeting my brother." He turned to the other man, motioning with his head that they should make their way outside.

They barely made it through the door before the hatch slammed shut and the hum of machinery started up in earnest.

"Your brother must be an interesting guy," the man offered as he followed Sam up the stairs and back to the main level of the amusement park.

Sam chuckled. "He does manage to have a certain effect on people." As soon as he made it back to the entrance of the roller coaster where they had left the gear, he bent to unzip the duffle, pulling the salt and lighter fluid from its depths. Quickly laying the necklace in a small divot in the concrete, he sprinkled it with salt then liberally coated it with lighter fluid before pulling the zippo from his pocket and setting it alight. Both men stepped back from the small fire, looking up into the night sky to the coaster that towered above them.

It took a few minutes for the fire to become hot enough to begin to melt the medallion, but it soon began to distort and they both clearly heard an ethereal scream from the main platform that faded into the silence of the closed park.

"Is he gone?"

Sam took a deep breath and released it before turning to the older man and nodding. "Yes. It's should be over."

"Thank you." The man pumped his hand, his appreciation clearly expressed in his eyes. "You and your brother have a lifetime pass any time you want it."

Sam chuckled, not sure how much Dean would appreciate the reward. "Uh, thanks, but –"

"Sam!"

Both men looked up as the familiar voice echoed back to them from above.

"Dean!"

Sam rushed toward the platform, the park supervisor right behind him. As soon as he cleared the entrance gate, he could just make out the cars of the roller coaster sitting high in the air atop the first crest of the ride.

"Dean!"

"Sam? Get me down!" Dean's voice was low and forceful, but Sam could detect a slight quiver in the familiar tones. "Now!"

"Just hold on!"

Sam turned to his companion, his hands out, palms up in a 'what do we do now' gesture.

The man shrugged. "The cars are already past the pull back mark."

Sam nodded, rubbing a hand across his face. "Great." He turned back to the darkened ride his eyes taking in the steep incline of the coaster's tracks. "There's a walkway next to the tracks, right? A way for the techs to get up and down for maintenance and repairs?"

"Well, yeah, but those guys are familiar with the climb and they only do it under carefully controlled conditions. Never at night, alone, or without a spotter. There's no way an inexperienced person would be able to make it down on his own."

Sam pinched the bridge of his nose and squeezed his eyes shut, trying to force himself to think.

"Sam!"

"Dean, hold on! Are you okay? What happened?"

"Do you think the Q&A could wait until after I'm back on solid ground?"

Sam stifled his initial reaction, knowing his brother's sarcasm was born of the situation.

"Are you okay?"

The silence was answer enough.

"Please tell me you torched that son of a bitch."

Sam chuckled, glad his brother's priorities were still in line. "Yeah. Jeffrey's toast." He was very familiar with Dean's avoidance tactics and reiterated his question. "Dean, are you okay?" He couldn't come up with any reason his brother would be in the predicament he was currently in other than the ghost had gotten the drop on him. He sincerely doubted Dean had climbed into the coaster car of his own volition.

"I'm fine," came the expected response. "Just… just get me the hell down!"

Sam grinned, knowing that if his brother was bitching, he couldn't be hurt too badly.

He turned to the supervisor, his eyes wide as he let the man know the ball was now in his court.

"It's a 52 second ride," the man shrugged. "Fastest way to get him down is to let it run."

Sam opened his mouth to respond, but closed it again when he realized there really was nothing he could say. 52 seconds… that was probably 51 seconds too long.

"Okay," Sam returned the man's shrug. What else could they do? 52 seconds and Dean would be down. Piece of cake, right? He turned back to the coaster and cupped a hand over his mouth. "Dean? Man… uh… hold on." He nodded to the supervisor and watched as the man flipped the lever. As he felt more than saw the coaster creak to life, he wondered how far of a head start he could get in 52 seconds.

"Sam? What the – Saaaaaaam!"

The End

_Again, my apologies. It's been a rough hiatus. g_


End file.
